Software developers use the Node.js environment to develop powerful and innovative applications. But the bigger the target, the higher the stakes. Learn about Node.js performance monitoring to ensure high quality and risk-free software products.
Part of diligent software development is ensuring that all system applications work well both individually and as a whole. In addition to functional testing and quality assurance procedures, application performance monitoring must be established to track overall software performance measurements.
In essence, application performance management includes activities related to full and functional application performance. One of these activities is application performance monitoring, which is a process through which developers can.
- Tracking software application behavior
- Detect errors and trace where they occur
- Collect application performance data and provide analysis
- Apply appropriate fixes so that problems encountered do not persist
Because of this importance, application performance monitoring (APM) tools have become a necessity in every developer’s toolbox. Some examples of APM tools include Netreo Retrace and Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (SCOM). While most of the tools provide the same functionality, they differ in compatibility.
The same principle applies in a Node.js development environment. There are, however, some intricacies to consider when monitoring a particular environment. Here, we will learn.
- Node.js performance monitoring
- Node.js performance monitoring metrics
- Top-level Node.js APM tools
Node.js performance monitoring
Node.js is an open source, cross-platform runtime environment. This environment is used to develop server-side and network applications. Developers and enterprises use Node.js because it has many advantages. First, its runtime environment allows for rapid delivery of scalable web applications. Other advantages include.
- Lightweight, event-driven, non-blocking I/O model suitable for data-sensitive and real-time processes
- Host rich JavaScript libraries and modules
- Compatible with multiple platforms and operating systems, such as OS X, Windows and Linux
In addition to these advantages, the Node.js platform is popular with software architects and developers because of its outstanding features.
- ** is very fast. ** The library code executes quickly because it is built on top of Google chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine.
- ** Asynchronous and event-driven. ** None of the apis developed in node.js will block any events. For multiple API calls, the server assigns them to the associated API, and the event mechanism collects the response.
- Data is not buffered. In short, the Node.js environment doesn’t delay any data and sends a lot of it as soon as it gets a response.
- ** High scalability. ** Despite being single-threaded, the event loop mechanism allows for more scalable server responses. A single-threaded program can accommodate the number of requests between servers
- High performance. Since Google Chrome V8 and Node.js update the environment regularly, you’re sure to get the best performance. Also, this applies to a variety of operating systems that are compatible with Node.js
- Allow cross-platform development. Node.js libraries and components allow developers to build cross-platform applications
Given the above characteristics, Node.js provides a mature operating environment for innovative application development. That is, an application is only as good as the developers who build it. To ensure optimal Node.js application performance, you need to implement performance monitoring measures in your application development.
Node.js performance monitoring metrics
Following QA and testing procedures is not the only way to see if your application is working well. In addition to these programs, you can guarantee that during the testing phase, when your application server works smoothly, you will encounter few problems. That said, you need to monitor the relevant application performance metrics.
In this article, we will discuss the following metrics.
- CPU utilization
- Memory usage
- Garbage collection
- Event loop
- User-oriented latency
- System health and downtime
1.CPU usage
Single-threaded means node.js uses one core of the system CPU per instance. Also, since Node.js is asynchronous and non-blocking, it really doesn’t use much CPU.
However, monitoring CPU usage is critical to evaluating how to optimize this particular metric. By tracking CPU load and usage, you can find out which processes are CPU-intensive. You can then address any potential risks by creating child processes or forks to reduce bottlenecks.
2. Memory usage and leakage
Memory leaks are common in Node.js development and can occur if values are stored longer than they need to be. Node.js performs garbage collection with the V8 engine used to run Javascript. If you don’t monitor the memory released during the garbage collection cycle, you are bound to run into memory leaks. To focus on preventing this from happening before it happens, monitor the memory freed, process heap size, and process heap usage.
3. Garbage collection
By monitoring the garbage collection cycle, you can determine how much time is being spent in the collection cycle. In addition, you will see how much memory is freed. With this information in mind, you’ll be able to compare the freed memory to the size of the entire heap, giving you an idea of the memory status of your application and making it easier to predict possible memory leaks.
4. Event loops
The Node.js process is fast because its events are executed asynchronously using an event loop and prevent requests from blocking each other — hence non-blocking I/O. Requests processed outside the main thread come back as responses. However, some processes can cause event loops to lag, such as long-running synchronous events and increments per single loop task. Be sure to monitor the average speed of event processing and latency throughout the loop.
5. User-oriented latency
In application performance monitoring, attention must always be paid to the user-facing components of your application. This is also known as HTTP request/response latency. Ensure pages are optimized and load quickly to improve user experience and customer retention. You need to monitor request/response sizes, response times, request rates, and error rates.
6. System health and downtime
Sudden application outages can be costly, negatively impact customer relationships, and expose systems to data security issues. Monitor the behavior of your Node.js application at all times to ensure that all servers are running, event loops are optimized, and memory is released periodically. You can use APM tools to track the behavior of your system to avoid crashes and outages.
Top node.js performance monitoring tool
As mentioned in the first part of this article. Node.js APM tools are a must in a developer’s toolbox. Software developers and architects can use these APM tools to track these metrics and generate efficiency in monitoring node.js application performance.
Here are five popular Node.js application performance monitoring tools.
- RetraceNetreo is a popular cloud-based APM tool that provides centralized logging and basic server metrics as well as error and logging integration. Ideal for pre-production and production applications, Retrace proactively detects problems before an application goes into production, tracks changes made after deployment, and provides feedback on deployment status. The Retrace monitoring component provides actionable insights to help developers quickly identify, evaluate, and fix problems.
- PM2 is a process management tool that ensures your application is always running. PM2 is also a user-friendly Node.js performance monitoring tool for deploying and monitoring real-time production workloads from a Web interface, including log management, container integration, and other features.
- Express Status Monitor is an open source tool for monitoring ExpressJS, a framework that exists in the Node.js environment. The Express Status Monitor tracks response times, CPU and memory usage, Status codes, and more.
- App Metrics is an open source performance monitoring tool managed by IBM. This tool focuses on providing raw data measurements for various application processes, including garbage collection and database query performance metrics.
- Prometheus is one of the most popular Node.js performance management tools, powered by a large community. Key features include clear visualization, availability and integration, extensive client libraries, and optimal storage.
Get the best results from Node.js performance monitoring
Be proactive when it comes to Node.js application development. By incorporating application performance monitoring tools into your development, you can avoid potential risks and downtime that could lead to irreversible consequences.
Tracking is a powerful APM solution that covers performance and availability monitoring and is one of the most used Node.js performance management tools by developers. In addition to monitoring your application, Retrace provides code profiling, deployment tracking, error tracking, transaction tracking, centralized logging, and user monitoring.
Get your 14-day free trial with Stackify Retrace today.
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About Stackify
- Netreo launches Prefix Advanced Real-time Application Analyzer – September 14, 2021
- Node.js Performance Monitoring – September 10, 2021
- Retrace wins Application Performance Management (APM) Gold Award from SoftwareReviews – July 22, 2021
- Stackify selected for SDTimes100 “Best Performance” — June 8, 2021
- Application monitoring. Check everything important – June 4, 2021